A tiny Texas town hopes to reclaim fame by celebrating classic cars

For much of its length, the Red River separates Texas and Oklahoma.

For much of its length, the Red River separates Texas and Oklahoma. Nocona is a Texas town just south of the river, and in its heyday was known for producing cowboy boots and baseball gloves.

Native son Pete Horton is working to revive the town’s acclaim, and is doing it with classic cars.

Horton, a veteran of the oil and wire line service industry, has restored several buildings in town — including old Ford and Chevrolet dealerships — and has filled a couple of them with his 120-vehicle (and growing) car collection.

During the weekend of April 19-20, Nocona, population around 3,000, will celebrate not only Horton’s classics but hundreds of others as well with Cruisin’ Nocona. Events include a Classic Car Poker Run and a 200-lot Vicara Classic & Muscle Car auction.

Featured vehicles at the auction will include a 1964 Pontiac GTO “Tri-Power” convertible, a pair of Chevrolet Corvettes — a ’62 “Big Brake” coupe and a ’63 split window Z06 — that have been stored since the 1980s, and several golf karts designed to mimic classic cars, including a ’34 Ford, ’57 Chevy, ’57 Thunderbird and even a Ford F-250 pickup truck. For details, visit www.vicariauction.com.